Orange Grove, a Gator, and a Baptism

Yes, I'm still playing catchup. I recently made a goal to be completely caught up with blogging this fall's events by Christmas Day. We will see if that happens!

So, our good friends, Joe & Cassie Klatt, asked us to be their little boy's godparents. Case Perry Klatt was born in June and we had not even gotten to meet him yet, but were really excited to go down to Orange Grove for his Baptism and to hold that little tiny guy! We also had not been down to Orange Grove since...last Christmas. But, fortunately, Vic's family comes to us on a regular basis and we even get to see our OG friends occasionally throughout the year. Honestly, to go off topic for a minute, I have no idea how the year has gone by so fast. We have 52 weekends and still that is not enough time to spend with everyone! Anyways, so we loaded up and had a fun weekend. We got to see Mandee and Derek's new house almost completed, hung out with friends and family that Saturday night, go to the deer stand (the boys) and then witnessed Case's baptism Sunday morning before heading to lunch at their house. It was a fast but fun weekend! I only have pictures from Saturday night and don't even have one of little Case!!! I'll have to fix that situation in the future!

So, on Saturday night, the Seidels cooked dinner for the Stechs, Seidels, Klatts, and Powells. Also, Mandee and Derek brought over their kids' John Deere gator. It is really cool! It is battery operated and takes some serious hand eye coordination and quick reflexes to stop, go, turn, etc. for little kids. But, Beck and Ben have had some practice because they were great at it! I was super impressed with little Ben, who was only 23 months and he could really handle it. As soon as I would be worried he was about to run into someone instead of stopping fast, he would just stop. He knew what he was doing! Atticus has not ridden one of those before and ended up just riding shotgun all night or chasing it when it wasn't his turn. Being so cautious, he tried a couple times to push the pedal and steer, but would need more time to get the hang of it. Grace, on the other hand, was not allowed to ride in it because she couldn't hold on and I was afraid she would fall right out while they were flying around the yard in it. Of course, that just made her mad. It's tough to be the only girl and the smallest in the group. The cutest thing of the night though was when all the boys were off doing something else and all of a sudden, Janice yells to me to look and little Miss has crawled into the driver's side and looks up at us and grins as big as she can. She was SO happy to finally sit in the gator! Our cute little Aggie kids had so much fun that night!

 I love this little ponytail! 

 Her "cheese!" faces!

I'm pretty sure she is telling Beck that she really wants to drive the gator. I'm pretty sure he is not going to move over for her.

 Here is Derek showing us how these super cool little cars work.

Another "cheese!" face.

 The gator got stuck in the mud.

 Here is one of Grace's attempts to get to that gator so she could ride too! 

 And here is Grace complaining that Ben is sitting on her car.

So Ben solved that problem and got his own car.

  Atticus LOVED riding on that gator all night. You can tell how hard he played by those little red cheeks! 

Arleigh & Iris (the little girls) came but they were much more ladylike and didn't want to play rough and tough like Grace and the boys.

 We had to make a rule after this picture that nobody could ride on the back...little Ben fell out of the gator right after this picture was taken. No worries - he was ok.

 Beck and Atticus.

 Grandpa and Atticus. Cute picture!

Here is Grace with that "Haha! I finally got my way and got into this gator!" face!

Then, big brother joined her. What a fun night!!! 

Wedding Flashbacks: Ana & Charley / Jill & Geoff / Molly & Kirk

So, now that I am thinking about weddings, I want to put a quick blog up for both Ana & Charley's wedding and Jill & Geoff's wedding and Molly & Kirk's wedding. For Ana & Charley's wedding, I was not in the habit of blogging and by the time we saw pictures, I just never went back. Similar to Jill & Geoff's wedding, by the time we got pictures in, it was so far past that I never went back. I remember thinking that on each of their wedding anniversaries, I would do a tribute blog to them. Both of those have now come and gone. Yikes! For Molly's, it was a private event so we just never had any photos or anything to blog about. So, I'll just post a couple of quick pics to say that I love them all!

Ana & Charley got married October 19, 2012 in McKinney, Texas. It was beautiful and fun exactly like Ana & Charley! It had a gorgeous bride and groom, a precious ring bearer (A was 18 months), the best surprise choreographed dance ever, lots of fall decor, a fabulous Aggie War Hymn, lots of friends and family, and lots of fun! (p.s. all of these pictures are from AS Studios Photography.)

5 quick things I remember: I was pregnant with Grace and was so thankful Ana had multiple dresses to choose from for her bridesmaids; And and Charley has the MOST fabulous group of Aggie friends who knew how to dance!; Andrew's best man speech was one of the most thoughtful, best speeches, I'd ever heard; this was the first family event that included Taylor!; and finally I just remember it being one of the best nights our Erwin family has ever had and that I'm so glad Ana is my sister!

 

 

Jill & Geoff got married on July 27, 2013 in Orange Grove at the Rifle Club. This wedding was so much fun too! Jill has to be the easiest bride ever and had plenty of people to pick up the details for their special day! It had lots of beer in a trough, lots of dancing, a precious ring bearer (A was a little over 2), another Aggie War Hymn, lots of family and friends, lots of pink, and a little boy who LOVED dancing by the end of the night! (These pictures are from both Hoelscher Photography and me). (and p.s. Shutterfly wouldn't let me download them so I had to save them weird and that is why they have ridiculous white borders - ugh.)

 

5 quick things I remember: Jill looked the most radiant and glowing I'd ever seen--truly the happiest!; I remember that poor Grace would fall asleep in my arms and then some kind person would offer to hold her while I ate, or helped with Atticus, or danced with Vic and she would immediately cry and not want anyone but me to hold her; I had multiple packs of fruit snacks to not only get Atticus down the aisle, but to keep him quiet during the ceremony and then back down the aisle at the end; I remember feeling very at home with the Seidel friends and family because they are just always welcoming; and I remember the rehearsal dinner because 1) we got great complete family photos with each the Seidels and the Winsauers and 2) they ran out of food before Vic or I could eat! haha!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, last Molly and Kirk got married on August 27, 2014. But, I do not have any pictures of the event. Vic and I hope they are very happy together forever! 



Katie & Kristofer's Wedding

In January 2013, Kristofer brought his girlfriend, Katie Parrish, with him to our annual MLK weekend get together. I hoped and prayed that she was the one for him because she seemed so great and he seemed so happy and he deserves the best! Over a year later, they were engaged and a date was set for them to be married! The boys went to Austin for a bachelorette party a couple months before and Katerina and I got to attend a wedding shower for Katie in Hunstville. But, finally the big week arrived! First, we got to have Whitney in town for a few days before! Woohoo! Then, GG came into town to keep our kids for the weekend and Vic and I loaded up to go to Huntsville. Honestly - it was SO nice to not have to bring kids and a bonus to only have to drive an hour!

It was the most fun weekend! We were with so many of our favorite people; it was a beautiful wedding; we were so relaxed; we were chauffeured back and forth between the hotel and the venue (the venue happened to be Katie's parents house); they included me in hair and makeup (which was so thoughtful!); and we laughed until it hurt! We are so glad Katie and Kristofer found one another; God is so good! They were married on September 27, 2014.

So, I have many pictures. I cannot even begin to describe how beautiful everything was. They had a gorgeous backyard bar and pool for the rehearsal and wedding; there was a walkway to these giant old bank doors that Katie and Kristofer got married in front of; there was a tent put up with a/c, bathrooms, a dancefloor, piano band, gorgeous details in place settings and centerpieces; delicious food; and so much fun! And Katie's parents and family are the most thoughtful, generous people. I'll just let a few pictures do the talking...here are some from my phone during the weekend.

 

Here are some of Mary Verett Photography from rehearsal night.

And to top it off, we even got access to their wedding pictures from their photographer, Chapa Images! Here are my favorites!

 Ah - another perfect wedding!